When Law-Abiding Companies & Riders Pay the Price: The Wrong Approach to Regulating E-Scooters and Fat Bikes
Comments Off on When Law-Abiding Companies & Riders Pay the Price: The Wrong Approach to Regulating E-Scooters and Fat BikesAcross Europe, transport ministers seem eager to intervene in the regulation of light electric vehicles (LEVs). The main targets right now are e-scooters and so-called fat bikes.
A Proven European Framework
E-bikes with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h and max 250W continuous rated power are excluded from EU Regulation 168/2013. Instead, they fall under the Machinery Directive, with manufacturers demonstrating compliance through European standards like EN 15194 for two-wheeled e-bikes, EN 17406 for e-mountain bikes, and the EN 17860 series for electric cargo bikes. This framework has been in place for decades. Millions of compliant e-bikes have been sold under it without structural safety problems. All EU member states apply the same road rules to these vehicles as to conventional bicycles.
The very same legislative framework is in place for e-scooters. They are just as well excluded from Regulation 168/2013, therefore under the Machinery Directive and EN 17128 has been developed to assist manufacturers with self-certification.
Unfortunately, many national policymakers appear poorly informed about this existing European technical legislative framework for these vehicles. Instead of relying on the EU’s common rules, they “reinvent the wheel” by creating national technical approval schemes. Germany and Spain already require type approval for e-scooters, while in the Netherlands the government has been debating a similar system — not just for e-scooters, but even for cargo bikes. By imposing their own national technical and compliance rules, the Member States infringe on the principle of free movement of goods in the Single Market.
Fat Bikes: Negative Press on Positive Development
In recent years, the design of the conventional electric bicycle has evolved into new types such as for instance long johns, longtails, as well as fat bikes — e-bikes with fat tires and moped-like frames. For many young people, they’re a stylish, modern alternative to petrol mopeds and a vehicle that makes them enthusiastic about electric bikes. That should be a positive development. Instead, negative press and political panic have turned fat bikes into scapegoats. Nobody seems to realise, or worse, to accept that fat bikes are simply electric bikes with pedal assistance up to 25 km/h and max 250W continuous rated power, excluded from Regulation 168/2013 and thus under the Machinery Directive and EN 15194!
Dutch parliament is debating special rules for fat bikes, and the city of Enschede even proposed banning them from the city centre. In Belgium, at least one school has banned fat bikes from the school bike parking altogether, while still allowing (ICE!) mopeds.
Fear Over Facts
The perception seems to be: if it looks like a moped and has fat tires, it must be illegal. Yes, some fat bikes are illegally tuned above 25 km/h, and some riders behave recklessly. But instead of targeting the offenders, policymakers conclude: ban them all.
The same logic has been haunting e-scooters for quite a while. Media stories paint all e-scooters as dangerous and antisocial. The media run sensationalist reports — a sad climax being a VRT-reporter claiming that e-scooter riders are “93 times more likely” to be injured than car drivers. Unsurprisingly, transport ministers across Europe are rushing to solve the problems with proposals on things such as helmets, license plates, insurance, and even utterly nonsensical power restrictions.
Who Gets Hurt?
The problem is obvious: these measures punish the majority who follow the rules. Law-abiding citizens will face higher costs, more red tape, and fewer mobility options. Those with fewer resources — already suffering transport poverty — will be hit hardest.
Law-abiding companies that carefully comply with the increasingly complex web of EU technical legislation (Machinery, EMC, RoHS, WEEE, Battery Regulation, RED, LVD, Cybersecurity Act…) will be saddled with even more barriers and fragmented national rules. Meanwhile, the real culprits — companies and users who deliberately ignore the law — will continue largely unchecked.
The Elephant in the Room: Illegal Imports
The European Commission itself reported that in 2023, 220,914 e-bikes were imported from China at an average declared value of just €298. This, despite existing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties. It is simply impossible to produce a compliant electric bike for under €300. Yet nearly a quarter of a million such e-bikes entered the EU market in one year. Market surveillance authorities failed to act.
For e-scooters, there are no reliable official data on import volumes or values. However, it can reasonably be assumed that hundreds of thousands of units also enter the EU each year — with some declared values so low that compliance with EU legislation is simply impossible.
And here lies the hypocrisy: ministers want to crack down on everyday riders with helmets and license plates, while turning a blind eye to the flood of clearly non-compliant vehicles entering the EU.
A Smarter Way Forward
Instead of punishing law-abiding users and companies, policymakers should:
- Enforce existing EU law against illegal imports and rogue traders.
- Support market surveillance authorities so they can verify compliance properly.
- Educate citizens — research shows nearly half of Belgians don’t know basic e-scooter rules, like the 16+ age limit.
- Focus on real safety issues like road infrastructure quality, not just on blaming vehicles.
Conclusion
The current wave of reactionary measures risks undermining sustainable mobility. They threaten those who follow the law, while those who ignore it will carry on as before. Europe does not need more fragmented national rules, helmets, and license plates for compliant LEVs. It needs smarter enforcement, better education, and policies that distinguish between the responsible majority and the irresponsible few.
